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GPhC confirms increase in renewal fees from July despite opposition

The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has confirmed it is increasing its renewal fee for pharmacists by £7 to £257, despite opposition from 70% of pharmacy professionals.

It will also increase premises renewal fees by £21 to £262 and pharmacy technician fees by £3 to £121 from July, it announced on Friday (March 8).

The decision follows a consultation – which ran from November 2018 to January 2019 – in which 70% of the 5,409 pharmacy professionals and organisations responding disagreed with increasing the fees for pharmacists.

“Some respondents called on the GPhC to demonstrate further efficiency savings, and for more flexible fee options to account for differences in income; for example, for people on parental leave or who work part-time,” the regulator said.

Chief executive Duncan Rudkin said: “Our role is to protect the public and give them assurance that they will receive safe and effective care when using pharmacy services.

“We have to make sure we have the resources necessary to carry out our regulatory functions effectively on their behalf.”

The new fee for pharmacists will still be lower than the 2011 level of £267, and marks the first increase since 2015, it stressed.

In its annual plan for 2019-20, the GPhC outlined ways it intends to “improve efficiency and effectiveness”, including the possibility of moving from its offices in Canary Wharf, London.

The Twitter reaction

2/2Given their role I think the GPhC has a duty to publicly point out the reduction in “safe & effective care” caused by the remuneration cuts.

@TheGPhC have made the mistake that @rpharms made years ago, and kept the fee artificially low only to then have to increase it by a headline amount. If it had increased by £1.75 per year each year probably no one would have commented